Fighting Fire with Ice
by Tom Hilts
Summary: If you can thaw a frozen heart, how do you deal one that is consumed by a burning rage? Rated M for Action, language and possible scenes later on (idk yet ehehe) IceBurns/Helsa and KristAnna most definitely throughout. Takes place perhaps ten minutes before film finishes, and continues.
1. Chapter 1

The sword shone stark against the deadly blue snow all around them. He brought the ornate weapon up in the rising arc that would swing down, hopefully crushing the queen's perfectly slender, white neck.

Everything slowed down exponentially for Westergaard as though it were a memory being played in his head. Elsa lay in a sobbing heap in the eye of the storm that had covered the fjord. Anna continued to stagger toward her sister, surprisingly gaining speed despite her frozen limbs. Kristoff could no longer hear anything but the howl of wind and the raging fury of the icy snow. He had begun to fear he had lost Anna forever.

Hans' lip had turned up in a horrifying sneer as his arm finished the swooping arc and began its decent. However, his eyes read a completely different story. They were distraught, as they tried to convey a message that was not being seen. There was no evil gleam in them, no wicked desires, no harmful intent. They were panic stricken, but of course no one else saw because Elsa had her back turned, Anna was closing the distance between her sister and the impending sword and Kristoff was helplessly lost in the middle of the tempest. The blade remained on its course, coming ever closer to the pristine skin of her majesty. Anna was finally between the two; holding up her right hand as the final stages of the freeze set in her limbs, capturing her body in a perfect statue of terror. The sword hit her icy fingers and shattered like a mere icicle crashing to the ground.

Elsa swirled around and the second her eyes fell on her sister she gave an anguished cry that barely escaped her lips. Her body's response came in the form of a burst of magic. The magic escaped as she held her hands to her heart. This burst was like a tsunami of glass shards that grew till they looked like giant masts on a man-of-war, each pointing skyward. A tortured scream was swallowed by howling wind.

Elsa clung to her younger sister and as immediately as the blast had escaped her hands the storm stopped.

The blast covered a significant circumference around the two sisters. Kristoff and Sven were just outside this ring when the storm immediately subsided. Kristoff knew in his heart that something terrible had happened, when he heard a wail his fears were confirmed.

"I'm coming Anna!" He yelled as he tore an axe from his belt and began scaling the icy wall that separated him from the siblings. He finally made it up and over the top, sliding down without hesitation. He hit the ground running, his axe ready for a fight, ready to kill. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.

Elsa had draped her arms over her sisters frozen figure and she was sobbing. Kristoff felt the wind knocked out of him as he slipped to his knees. _She was gone? She couldn't be! He barely had the chance to tell her what he felt…._

"Anna!" Elsa sobbed. The sound tore from her throat. Her tears fell as the life Kristoff had only ever dreamed about began slipping away in front of his eyes. He leaned forward holding himself on all fours, tears no longer threatening but instead spilling down his cheeks. In his fury he balled his fist around the axe in his hand and in one swift motion he swung his fist into the ice. He did this again and again till the axe had lodged itself so deep in the ice he could not pull it forth again. As his tears blinded him he began to beat the ground with just his gloved hand.

"She can't die! Not now dammit!" He spat into the ground as the tears mixed into the snow. When he realized that tears was not the only warm liquid falling into the snow beneath him he sat up dazed looking at his broken hand. Blood. He saw blood, he felt blood, and he _wanted_ blood.

The eternity that followed was a gut wrenching silence. All that could be heard was the barely falling snow. It was the sound of an ice drop forming into something beautiful before falling to its tragic death below, to be trampled by the wayfarer and his oxen or melted by the warmth of the poor man's fire.

As Elsa and Kristoff sobbed to themselves something began to change. Anna's jacket was turning from a crystalline ice blue to its original fuchsia. The warm colors spread till the ice began thawing around her face. At long last her body became flexible again.

Anna returned her sisters embrace. Elsa looked up a mixture of horror and confused joy on her face.

"Anna! Y-you're…"

"It looks like I'm ordinary ol' me again!" Anna smiled. The two embraces as Kristoff stumbled to his feet. The sound of Anna's voice awakening him from his shock.

"You're alright!" he choked, tear stains on his face. Anna broke from Elsa's embrace and turned to Kristoff.

"I guess." She said quietly. Kristoff shook his head, blinking back another stream of tears that threatened to overflow. Before Anna could do anything he had wrapped his strong arms around her small frame and held her close as though he would never let her go again.

"Don't ever bloody be the hero again!" he rasped. Anna couldn't help but smile.

She was shocked at first but after a moment she sunk into his warm embrace and just relaxed for what seemed like the _first time in forever_. She wasn't alone. The two finally let go of each other and turned around to look for Elsa. The queen was not there.

Anna and Kristoff looked around for a frantic second before they spotted her. She was on the far end of the gladiatorial ring of ice that she had created during the blast. She was slowly walking toward something; or someone that is. At this realization, Kristoff and Anna both dove for the axe that was buried in the ice. Kristoff reached it first and with a rush of strength he forgot he had, he pulled it from the fjord with his good hand. Anna huffed and gave him a jealous side glance.


	2. Chapter 2

When Elsa had sent out her blast of power, it had created a coliseum of ice surrounding them. Kristoff had been just outside its range. His majesty, Prince of the Southern Isles, was not so lucky. He now barely stood with the toes of his boots just touching the ground; blood trickled from his lips down his once flawless grey military jacket. It was jagged and torn where a spike, made from Elsa's frozen terror, had impaled him. His sword now hung limp in his left hand; red flowing down it creating little steaming pools in the snow at his feet.

"Damn." He breathed. He had a pained yet almost angry smile on his bloodied face. The liquid was thick and had oozed into his ginger colored hair, making the red sideburns dark. Elsa stood in front of him both angered and afraid of herself. Part of her was seething hatred toward Hans but the other part was more horrified at what she had just done!  
Hans was mumbling something.

"Never had a chance….just out riding…..didn't see him…."

Something inside Elsa snapped and she immediately tried to help Hans off the spikes. The sword clattered on the frozen lake beneath their feet.

Anna was behind Kristoff and the two were almost immediately by Elsa's side. The younger sister looked like a fire was burning in her eyes but she was exercising self-control and not stabbing the man in front of her with his own bloodied sword. Hans tried unsuccessfully to sit up on his elbows, however, this proved to be unsuccessful with his left shoulder almost completely shattered from the multi-tipped spike he had been impaled with. He choked and gasped as he fell back on his shoulder. Kristoff and Anna next to each other; both stood with their arms crossed over their chests. They glared with a smug " _You deserve this_ " look in their eyes. After an internal struggle, Elsa got to her knees on Hans wounded side. He was still mumbling about something. She leaned forward with her ear to his lips. He opened his eyes and with surprising speed grabbed her shoulder with his uninjured arm. Kristoff and Anna both made a move to kick the prostrate man but Elsa stopped them. She put a hand over Hans' and looked into his glazed eyes.

"It was a lie…" he choked out, "A charade."

"The much is obvious." Anna scoffed from behind her sister.

It didn't make sense. Why would he be admitting everything they already knew?

"What?" she was curious now, though she held no sympathy for the pain he was in but she had done this to him and owed it to him to hear whatever miserable final words he had to say. He coughed and continued.

"I don't expect any of you to believe me, but this wasn't...it wasn't ME." Hans trailed off for a second before he forced himself to focus. "I was out riding...didn't see it coming...Always played the part."

"He is just stalling!" Anna grumbled.

"Please Anna!" Elsa shot back. It wasn't adding up and she wanted to know how this ended. "Played the part of what?" she demanded.

"I did what they wanted, said what they wanted to hear...but that wasn't enough...He wants your kingdom and he would do anything to take it."

"Who is 'he'?" Elsa felt her ire rising.

"You see, I never was really his, I was the bastard...so he thought he would throw me to the wolves as his experiment and as his weapon. Magic is a damn bloody thing when used to control a mind."

"Who? You mean someone did this to you?" Elsa asked. It could have been another lie but something deep down inside her told her to listen.

"Captive in my own body…" He coughed again this time more blood flowed as he began to suffocate. He tried to gulp in air and gasp out words at the same time.

"No control…it wasn't me! No control!" He struggled to sit up again, this time Elsa helped him hoping it would make it easier to breath. He had no strength and fell on her shoulder. Elsa's face turned an even lighter shade of white and again Anna tried to pry Hans away from her sister, Kristoff held her off this time.

"Let him speak!" Elsa admonished. Blood now stained her crystalline dress but she was not paying attention at the moment.

Kristoff said nothing but the look on his face spoke volumes, Anna voiced her opinion though. "He is a lying, conniving, slimy bastard Elsa! Don't trust him! It's what he is good at."

Hans smiled at this.

"Anna quiet!" Elsa ordered! She was and Elsa turned back toward Hans. "Who did this to you?" it was another order. Hans took gulp of air before continuing. His tone changed, it was dark and sinister even if it was weak and getting quieter by the minute.

"My father…." He spat. The three onlooking faces changed. If what he was saying was in fact true, the man's father had used his body as a catalyst intent on harm. Not only on the people of Arendelle, but on his own son.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Elsa continued.

"To a bastard son…" Hans sighed "A son like you." With those four words he looked into Elsa's eyes. Ever so slowly he raised a hand and held it in front of his face. Balling his hand into a fist he then stretched the fingers out as if testing them. After a moment they began to glow and a small ball of red and orange flame burst from his fingertips. It burned for a split second and sizzled out; taking up some of Hans' energy. He let his arm fall lifeless at his side and almost collapsed again when Elsa caught him. This time she let him rest on her shoulder, cradling him in her arms. "It's good to be master of my own body again." Hans whispered to himself. "Even if for a little while."

"But you have never used your powers before; while you were under your father's control." Elsa questioned. "Why?"

"It was the only think I had control over inside my head." Hans whispered. "It was what kept me alive in there, knowing that he could not use it no matter how hard he tried. That was when he resorted to other tactics."

"Like wooing and killing the princess?" Kristoff scoffed.

Hans opened his eyes one more time. "I don't expect you to forgive or even trust me….but please know I never m-meant to ki-" Before he could finish his body spasmed and he gritted his teeth as he cried out in pain before his head lolled lifelessly back. His skin was as pale as Elsa's.

The trio looked at each other in stunned silence.

Hey guys, If you are reading this...thanks for stopping by.

I am going back to university in a week and classes are going to be even more difficult. I am sorry to say but I will most likely not be able to work on this till spring break (at best) If I get a chance and am tired of homework I might try to eke out a few pages. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you soon!

ps. I do not mind constructive criticism so go ahead and nit pick! I have tough skin.


End file.
